In my search for freebies, I found a four mile, full-moon hike which we took last night. It was really pretty neat! We packed a picnic dinner and the GPS to find the park and had a romantic evening! The hike was at Edwin Warner Park, and was easy, a bit steep at the beginning, and on pavement. The full moon did not light up the pathway, as I had expected, since there were such tall, full trees, so part way through we needed the flashlight. It was pretty noisy with all of the cicadas chirping and when it was dark, it was a little erie with the lightening bugs/fireflies flashing us. It was sponsored by Cumberland Transit which we found out, is an outdoor sports store. In the past the most they had for this hike was about 30, with the lowest at 6. Every full moon they go for a hike at night. The turnout this time was much greater than they had expected, with 150 people....age range from a one year old in a stroller up to a couple that looked to be early 70's! Even a few dogs were brought! Since we have not been "walking" since our vacation in CA, it felt good to get out again and walk; and being at night, and a new location, it was awesome fun!

Mayou Visit

The last of our known visitors for this summer, the Mayous, arrived a couple of days after Merritts left.
It was great to have them here. We shared them with the Johnsons, spending time in Westhaven a couple of days. We again became tourist guides, this time focusing on kid friendly activities. We visited the Science center ,which just opened its new dome movie on the stars. It was not only a fantastic movie, but a fantastic facility with multiple hands-on scientific exhibits. We spent four hours learning more than we really needed to, but it was such fun stuff! It was beyond my expectation!
The following day we visited Kentucky Down Under, a fun mini-zoo attached to a cavern. We were able to get up close and pet a kangaroo, who really does have the softest fur I have ever felt! One of the kangaroos was pregnant, having the joe in her pouch. It was fun to observe how active it was in there! A presentation featured information on Aborigines.
On the fourth of July we celebrated southern style! The kids first participated in the Westhaven community parade with decorated bicycles while we watched, then we had a family barbecue at Karyn and Andy's. While the kids (including Andy) swam, Karyn and Hailey slept, we adults took in the local Franklin fair. In the evening we watched fireworks at the new Crossings shopping center, followed by our own show! The "party after the party" included enjoying several of our neighbor's fireworks as well.
Check Karyn's blog for more!